All I keep seeing on the news are stories about internet bullying. No doubt sparked by the Tyler Clementi story (google his name if you don't know what I'm talking about), it seems to be going a little overboard. Anyway, any time I see it, I think of everyone being douchers on here. Just wondering, are any of you guys really affected by what other people say about you on the internet? List is digs.

I know, I just don't understand it. Granted, I'm not 13, but I remember calling my friends "gay" and stuff back then and we're still doing alright. There should be some sort of class everyone takes before going on the internet and they teach that IT'S THE FUCKING INTERNET!.

I dont see the big deal with general name calling and whatnot, however, there's certain things (I was reading it in the forums a while ago when i was banned- can't find it now, something about a kid in the closet having a sextape of him with another man stream live over the Internet by his best friends. He killed himself) that are horrible, even over the Internet.

Of course that's worthless...but if someone who you've never met goes to your school (or a school nearby) and tells you on Facebook they're going to fuck you up the next day, shit gets real. Kids on Facebook openly post their information, and most of them don't even know how to block people from commenting on their page or sending them a message. No, it's nothing to kill yourself over, but depending on the circumstance (and circumstance always comes into play), it can be a very serious problem.

I doubt the bullying label is used for people calling other people fags over the net, I assumed that was the default position. Its the open dissemination of personal info and misuse that will get you. This is why its best to be a cypher.

The vast majority of internet bullying is done by groups of adolescents to someone they know and want to inflict misery upon. Becoming the focus of malicious intent hardly equates to 'just words on a screen'. Language is an incredibly powerful tool, unless you're a retarded ape, of course.

People have killed themselves from real life bullies too. I hate when people think that just because it's the internet they can do and say whatever they want; it still affects people. The only difference is I can't lay you out for calling me a fag over the web.

Doesn't really matter on sputnik but blocking someone who harasses you on facebook is probably a smart idea. Unless you like
the attention of course. I don't think it's that big of a deal unless you're exploiting something that someone is really sensitive
about (for example, sexual orientation) but even then it's usually just blown out of proportion.

I find it repulsive that the kid who streamed the vid may now face 5 years of prison for this kids
decision to kill himself. While I agree it's indecent, it's not his fault that the kid took his life.
Believe people with agendas to regulate the internet for their own self-interests will use this to
support their own pre-set agendas.

he planted a video in the dorm room, witnessed this kid in the act of having homosexual sex, and then posted it online for the entire school to see, with intention to humiliate and degrade, to an extreme extent.

Never heard of this case so I'm guessing it happened in the US, but if the kid hadn't killed himself, would the guy who posted the tape still deserve to be put in prison? It's a really douchebag move but its not illegal (I'm assuming there were no copyright issues).

I wasn't referrring to the specific event, merely making a speculation which you missed but now I'll
run with the actual case. So he videotaped and actually streamed the sexual act to humiliate and
degrade and in return the kid took his life. I'm arguing that through the law what if the same exact
thing occurred but the recipient didn't take his life? Should that person receive just as harsh of a
penalty then the kid who now faces 5 years even though the outcomes are completely different? Both
acts are identical, I just find that in these 2 cases, even though the real resulted in a death and
the hypothetical does not, both should be punished the same because their actions are identical.

My bad, kind of forgot about all the other stuff. That's slightly surplus to this particular argument though, I thought the issue was whether or not the video poster should be held accountable for the other guy's suicide.

ok so no breaking and entering. you still can't film someone without their permission, and if you were filming something of a sexual nature then it becomes a sexual crime. posting on the internet adds to the original charges. Think about the guy who took pictures of Erin Andrews (ESPN reporter) while she was naked in a hotel room -- he went to jail.

so yeah this douchebag deserves everything he gets. I take back my previous statements.

That's different, the speeding car is what physically causes the death. With this case the guy doesn't die from watching the video, he commits the physical act of killing himself due to embarassment caused by the publication of the tape.

Your metaphor doesn't work at all. while operating a vehicle you are responsible at all times, when I
say, write or post a video about someone I am not responsible or in control of their reactions.
123 @ Geng, my point exactly.

I mean what if my GF caught me cheating with a girl and then left and moved on with life? What if
instead she killed herself, her killing herself was because of my actions, should I be put on trial
now? My initial comments seemed harsh and in-humane but I was merely referring to that I don't don't
think the outcome of the kid's unfortunate death should affect his punishment.

well, I don't think the dude is getting charged with the other guy's suicide... he's probably just getting charged with the crimes he committed.

Now, if two people commit the same crime, which carries a sentence of between 3 and 5 years, and the first person's crime doesn't end in someone else dying -- he might get the 3. but if the other guy did the same thing, he might get the 5, and that seems to be an acceptable solution.

Look at Michael Vick, there were multple NFL players before him convicted of running dog-fighting rings, and none of them saw jail time, at least not more than a week of it. Vick commits the same crime, but because he is more famous and looked up to as a role model by more people, he spends a full TWO YEARS in a federal prison.

"I mean what if my GF caught me cheating with a girl and then left and moved on with life? What if instead she killed herself, her killing herself was because of my actions, should I be put on trial now?"

yeah too bad that's completely fucking different in every way from the case being discussed

also you seem to be the only one with the same viewpoint on this as me. the fact is that a CRIME was committed, whether or not the kid committed suicide. The suicide just made people aware of the crime.

my point being that even if JWT cheated on his girlfriend with the intent of hurting her feelings to the point of suicide, he still couldnt' be charged with a crime because cheating on a gf isn't illegal. and it would be damn near impossible to prove he was attempting to convince her to kill herself without some sort of manifesto/journal/diary where he wrote down the words "i'm going to cheat on my gf so that she kills herself"

The "you make your own decisions" argument JWT postulates is so amorphous it could be used on almost every single criminal act, its a non starter really. All the charges are directly linked to the accused actions anyway, there is no manslaughter charge so far.

well the car example actually kind of makes sense, but maybe just change it around. for example, if someone runs out in front of my car and I hit them, causing their death, there's a chance I could be exonerated in court if they can prove I didn't have time to stop. However, whether I had time to stop or not, if I had enough alcohol in my system to be over the legal limit I would be charged with vehicular manslaughter.

Butting into the middle of intelligent discussion: isn't the kid being charged for invasion of privacy (or something, I'm not good with law terms)? which is a serious crime on it's of, the fact that the other guy commited suicide over that only will make the possible punishment more severe?

But seriously, in difficult moral situations like this, there are often no definitive answers/solutions/terms of right and wrong, and even when there are, they are very difficult to fully argue for. The situation itself is so specific that even if you were to be able to discern who is right and who is at fault, it wouldn't apply to the broader issue that the Tyler Clementi case brings up.

On a serious note: I really wonder why being outed as a homosexual was the ultimate reason to commit suicide? i mean it's not middle-ages, and it's not eastern Europe. Gay rights movements here often cite USA as the example of tolerance, etc.

I'm so tired of people bullying the internet, too. It's not like it can fight back or anything. I'm guilty of it, too. Whenever it slows down or tells me it's tired, I scream at it, call it names, physically abuse it.... It needs to stop.

I was being facetious. Assuming that the kid was "obviously depressed" earlier is fucking rude. Saying the perpetrators should be exempt from the justice system because of their poor reputations is really fucking rude.

The choice for suicide was completely up to the one that committed it. That said, the harassment caused by the other party and the no doubt several laws broken during the making and distribution of said video cannot be overlooked or downplayed.

No, it was to point out he was obviously not stable to take his own life; and yes I'd say most people
who take their lives are in a "mental anguish" where they aren't thinking clearly and make rash
decisions they probably wouldn't have if they had time to cool down and think things over.

"i'd say most people who take their lives are in a "mental anguish" where they aren't thinking clearly and make rash decisions they probably wouldn't have if they had time to cool down and think things over."

well, you'd be wrong. actually most people who commit suicide agonize over the decision and plan it for a long time, it's not an impulsive decision for them. especially in times like this when so many people are unemployed and don't really have any prospects for the future. and people who make spur of the moment decisions to end their life are generally less likely to make a successful attempt.

"I don't get this "internet bullying" thing. Someonem who you never met and probably never will meet, calls you a fag on the internet. And then suddenly, your world comes crashing down..."

no, not really. the victims in a lot of these cases are kids who are also being bullied by people they know in real life. and lol at people using sputnik as an example of internet bullying

"On a serious note: I really wonder why being outed as a homosexual was the ultimate reason to commit suicide? i mean it's not middle-ages, and it's not eastern Europe. Gay rights movements here often cite USA as the example of tolerance, etc"

i transferred to rutgers last year... it's not a very loving community from my experience...i'd say at least 80% of people here are homophobes. even the bus drivers are dicks. i'm not surprised by the tyler clementi story at all